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When a combustion-engined vehicle needs filling up, all you need do is find the nearest fuel station and remember if your car drinks diesel or petrol. With an electric vehicle such as the i3 (with no off-street parking to make it easy to get high on your own supply) it's more complex.

First you need to identify where the public charging spots near where you intend to travel are (and there aren't that many, even in London). BMW is linked to Chargemaster's network website so that's a good place to start. Second, you need to know the charging speed they're capable of (Chargemaster's site also shows that).

If the charging spot only has a regular household three-pin 13A socket you need to be commuting to work or at an all-day (eight-hour) meeting to allow time to fully recharge.

If the mission is shorter, like a big shop or a lunch meeting you'll need a Type2 fast charger. A couple of hours will get you up to 40-odd miles; four hours should double that. And the third andfourth key things are to find a station that is not being used by someone else, and is working. But more on that next time.

BMW i3 Range Extender

Mileage 1274

Official consumption

470.8mpg

Our average consumption N/A

Forecast/actual CPM 56.9p/NA

P11D price

£35,575*

Model price range

£30,925-35,575*

Residual value 39.1%

Depreciation cost £21,675

Fuel £1670

Service, maintenance and repair £1722

Vehicle Excise Duty £0

National Insurance £1031

CO2 (tax)

13g/km/5%

BIK 20/40% per month

£28/£57

Verdict

Eco groundbreaking design and engineering

Learning the new art of refuelling

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